Are you moving to a big city or suburbs? Will you have a car? Do you know anyone where you are moving that could help you move your stuff if you were able to get it out there? If your car/SUV/truck can tow a trailer, and you're comfortable driving one, renting one from uhaul might be a good way to go about getting some of your furniture to your new home. If not, I might opt just to buy some cheap furniture from places like IKEA, have it mail ordered to your house, and then assemble it there.
In terms of finding a place to live, that can be tough from the other side of the country. Again, if you knew someone there you could ask them to scope out places for you. Otherwise, I might lean towards renting from an apartment complex which has dozens of identical units, and doing as much research as you can online about the management company/property. That seems like a safer bet than trying to rent out part of a duplex having only seen craigslist photos.
